Educational Policy Flashcards
(32 cards)
What are the key aims of educational policy?
=> Raising Educational Standards.
=> Creating equality of educational opportunity in a meritocratic society.
=> Economic Efficiency (developing the talents of youngsters to improve skills of the labor force by emphasizing vocational education - e.g., through provision of apprenticeships - to make the education system meet the needs of industry/employers.)
Which policies are aimed at reducing social class inequality?
=> The pupil premium (e.g. free school meals).
=> Education action zones.
Which changes were made to reduce gender inequality?
=> Abolition of the tripartite system (girls had to score higher than boys on 11+ to get into a grammar school).
=> GIST
Which policies are aimed at reducing ethnic inequality?
=> Assimilation.
=> Multicultural education.
=> Social inclusion.
What is the tripartite system?
=> Introduced in 1944.
=> Young people only had access to basic elementary education up until the age of 14.
=> Secondary schooling required fees which WC parents couldn’t afford.
=> 1944 Education Act provided free secondary education for all pupils, removing inequalities in educational opportunity.
What are comprehensive schools?
=> Abolished the tripartite system.
=> Most children go to secondary school at age 11 with no selection by 11+, regardless of ability.
What are the changes to the schools admission code?
=> Discrimination in admitting pupils to schools on the grounds of ability or socio-economic status of the parents is forbidden.
=> Designed to prevent schools from denying access to the most disadvantaged pupils.
=> Amendment proposed in 2014 to allow schools to discriminate in favor of the most disadvantaged pupils by giving priority to those eligible for pupil premium.
What is ‘selection by ability’?
=> Schools intake is selected on the basis of academic ability, assessed in an 11+ exam.
=> Used to be the main form of selection for secondary school education under the tripartite system.
=> Now forbidden for all state-funded schools.
What is ‘selection by aptitude’?
=> Pupils are selected on the basis of their aptitude (their potential to be good in certain subjects).
=> Specialist schools (which now include nearly all state-funded secondary schools)) are allowed to select up to 10% of students on the basis of their aptitude in some specialist subjects.
What is ‘selection by faith’?
Religious schools may select a proportion of the pupils on the basis of religious beliefs and commitment of their parents.
What arguments exist in support of selection by ability?
=> Classrooms containing pupils of all abilities, brighter children are held back by the slower pace of learning of the less able.
=> Brighter students can be ‘stretched’, rather than being held back by slow learners who are unable to cope with the work.
What arguments exist against selection by ability?
=> Late developers benefit.
=> Fewer social divisions and more social cohesion through mixing.
=> Reduced risk of labelling and SFP.
=> Benefits for pupils of all abilities.
What is the ‘open enrolment and parental choice’ policy?
=> A parent can apply for a place for their child at any state funded school in any area; if the school is under subscribed, it must accept that child.
=> Often described as a system of parental choice
=> Really a case of parents expressing a preference rather than a real free choice since most popular schools fill up quickly and are over subscribed, resulting in many parents not getting their first choice.
What is the ‘admissions policy in over-subscribed schools’?
If a school is over-subscribed, pupils are admitted according to over subscription criteria which should comply with the school’s admissions code.
What is the ‘covert selection’ policy?
=> Arguments exist that schools use backdoor social selection to cherry pick those pupils who they think are likely to be of higher ability and or from a higher social class.
=> Involves discouraging parents from poorer socio-economic backgrounds from even applying in the first place by giving them the impression the school is more suited and more appealing to m/c than w/c.
Which government policies may have reduced social inequalities in education?
=> Abolition of the tripartite system; meant all pupils would go to the same type of secondary school.
=> Education maintenance allowances; provided financial support to enable poorer students to continue into further education.
=> Pupil premium; earmarks funds for schools to spend on meeting the needs of disadvantaged pupils.
=> Education action zones; targeted funds on schools in socially deprived areas to raise achievement.
=> Grants for higher education; make it easier for poorer students to attend university.
=> City academies were created; give a fresh start to struggling inner city schools with mainly w/c pupils.
=> Introduction of national literacy strategy; literacy and numeracy hours and reduction of primary school class sizes.
What are the key aims of marketization?
=> Competition; making schools and colleges compete with one another for customers (students).
=> Choice; giving customers (parents and students) a choice of schools, enabling them to choose whatever education they feel is best suited to them.
=> Independence; allowing schools to operate like private businesses, and to control their own affairs.
What are some examples of marketization policies?
=> Publication of league tables and OFSTED inspection reports that rank each school according to its exam performance and give parents the information they need to choose the right school.
=> Formula funding, where schools receive the same amount of funding for each pupil.
=> School diversity e.g. Specialist schools (e.g. specializing in IT, languages, etc) helps to widen parental choice.
=> Schools being able to opt-out of local authority control e.g. to become academies.
=> Allowing parents to set up free schools (marketized schools).
=> Business sponsorship of schools and private financing in building, maintaining, and running of some state schools (privatised schools).
What are the criticisms of marketization?
=> League tables and cream-skimming/silt shifting.
=> Funding formula.
=> Marketization benefits m/c parents who are in a better position to choose ‘good’ schools for their children as a result of their economic and cultural capital.
In what two ways has globalization impacted on educational policy?
=> Privatization/marketization of education; education is a multi-billion pound global market and large, multi-national companies are seeking to gain access to these vast markets.
=> International comparisons; huge range of international data available on all aspects of education, including various international student achievement surveys, comparing the educational performance of a a range of countries.
What is PISA?
=> Programme for International Student Assessment.
=> Involves conducting tests in mathematics, science and reading amongst representative samples of between 325,000 and over 600,000 9-15 y/o students drawn from around 50-65 countries every 3-5 years. Data is then ranked in the form of league tables to show the relative performance of different countries.
=> Results are used by participating countries to monitor their education systems in a global context, and to help inform social policy.
Why do governments introduce educational policies?
=> To improve the education system for all.
=> To promote meritocracy in society.
What are most educational policies a response to?
=> Equal opportunities.
=> Selection and choice (types of schools/types of pupils/parents involvement)
=> Control of education (should it be controlled by the governments, parents, local councils, schools, businesses or teachers?)
=> Marketization and privatization (should they operate like businesses within an ‘education market’?)
Why do many sociologists criticise educational policies?
They see educational policies as playing an important part in recreating and justifying educational inequality.
